by Lucy Snow
“Nonsense,” Makora said, waving his hand to dismiss my sentiment. “You are a brother warrior, and just because we have not fought together does not mean we cannot now, does it?”
“No,” I agreed. “And in truth, we would welcome the assistance.” I nodded over the rock. “There are more of them than we were prepared for.”
“Then it’s settled,” Sally chimed in. “You’re our guests here on Garamond, and we can’t just turn away guests in their time of need! What kind of hosts would we be?”
Makora and Sally shook their heads at each other. “Poor hosts, indeed,” Makora lamented. “The news would undoubtedly get out. No one would come visit!” He laughed. “No one visits anyway,” he added, sheepishly.
“We’re a little out of the way, here, as you can tell.”
“The planet’s interference does make scanning difficult - we did not know any of this was here before we crashed.”
“Part of the planet’s appeal, I say. Keeps others out naturally.”
“Wait, you called the planet something…Garamond? Is that its name?”
Makora and Sally shared a look that told me they knew more than they let on. “That is the name we have chosen for the planet, yes.”
“There is more to that then you are telling us.”
Makora smiled. “You are correct, brother, but now is not the time for that talk. We have bigger problems to deal with right now. I assure you, when we have the crystals you need well in hand and we are leaving, we will explain everything to you.”
Melissa chimed in. “That sounds super suspicious.” She gripped my arm tighter, and I nodded.
Makora raised his hand. “I promise you, as one Kreossian warrior to another, it is not important to the task at hand. I will explain all later.”
“I do not like this,” I said, skeptically, “but we do not have a choice.” I stood up and looked over the rock. “More of the ghost wolves have gathered.” I turned back to Makora. “Do you know how to distract them so that we may take the crystals?”
“I assume you do not need all of them.”
I pulled out my tracking device. “No. At the rate they are throwing off energy, we require only…3 of them to sufficiently power the shuttle to launch, break atmosphere, and signal the Kreossian fleet that we are still alive.” I did not add, for Melissa’s benefit, that this plan would only work if the Kreossian fleet was still looking for us and had not given up and flown back to Kreoss for reassignment.
Makora looked over the rock. “There are…at least 7 crystals there, which is good. As long as you are not taking all of them.”
“Why is that important?”
“The ghost wolves…they can sense the crystals. They can sense their movement and their use. If you were to take all of them at once, they would follow you without question, and they would not let you have them.” His words were stark and without rancor, like he was merely stating the facts.
I nodded. “The crystals call to them.”
“It appears that way.” He glanced at Sally. “We believe they are here to guard it, that the crystals are where the ghost wolves come from.”
“We must be stealthy in our approach.”
“That is clear.” Makora leaned in. “We have mapped this area out before.” He took out a small blade and began to draw on the ground, pushing the small pebbles of all shapes out of the way. “This is the meeting area. They come in large groups and watch the crystals form.”
“That is all they do?”
“When they are here, yes. They watch and they chant. We have not been able to comprehend any language in the chanting, but it is clear they possess more than animal intelligence.”
Melissa drew in a sharp breath. “They can think? And communicate?
“It appears that way. We have not been able to make enough of an extensive study of them, but they are definitely the apex predator around here.”
“We have seen that as well,” I agreed. “We need a distraction, something that we can use to clear them from the theater so we can sneak in and take the crystals.”
Makora pointed down at his diagram on the ground. “We have just the thing you need.”
“Oh?”
“A little piece of technology I have been working on that will help us with the ghost wolves.” Makora smiled. “There are only two of us here, how else would we survive amongst all of them?”
“I had wondered the same thing.”
“We’ve built some beacons,” Sally said. “We can control them remotely - we can use them to attract or repel the ghost wolves.”
“That should help, definitely,” I said.
Makora gave Melissa a wry look. “Is he always this serious?”
“Always,” she said, smiling back.
Sally pulled at Makora’s arm. “Don’t be like that, you were exactly the same way. I just recently got you to relax.”
“I know. I am making fun of my brother.”
I cleared my throat with a cough just loud enough for each around me to hear. “We should get back to the plan.”
“Yes, yes. We took the liberty of setting up beacons at strategic points around the theater. I set them up months ago, in fact, thinking that it would be good to watch how the ghost wolves respond.”
“Have you tested them out?”
“In general, yes. These specific beacons? No, they are an experimental type and we did not get a chance to test them first.”
“No time like the present,” I said with a smile.
“A Kreossian after my own heart,” Makora said. “I have no doubt of our success.”
We planned further. We needed only 3 of the crystals, so Melissa and I would work together, and Makora and Sally would as well.
They would turn the beacons on at different intervals, drawing the ghost wolves out of the theater while we made our approach. We would move in the moment the ghost wolves dispersed, and if we needed backup, Makora and Sally would come to our aid.
Everyone agreed on the plan. Makora suggested that we move quickly, as night approached soon, and the night was when the ghost wolves were most active. Having experienced that firsthand, I agreed.
Melissa and I figured out the angle from which we would make our approach while Makora and Sally took out their equipment and prepared to activate their beacons.
Without telling them of my suspicions, I gave the beacons a 1 in 2 chance of being successful - while I relied on technology to help me win battles and survive, I did not have much faith in gear that was cobbled together from a shuttle that had landed on a jungle planet. As I gripped my blade tighter in my hand, I knew that it would likely come to combat.
I glanced down at Melissa, getting ready as I was. She looked so beautiful and so brave, but I could tell that she was scared. “It will be alright,” I said, taking her hand.
“That’s nice of you to say,” she whispered back, jumping up. I grabbed her and we kissed long and deep. “I know you’re just saying that to make me feel better, but I appreciate it.”
“Makora and Sally will help us,” I said, looking over at the Kreossian man and his mate as they prepared their equipment. “Their beacons will help us clear the theater of the ghost wolves.”
“But how do we know they’ll work? Hell, they could call them all down upon us.”
Of course she was correct, but I could not agree with her without causing even more fear, and that would not help when bad things happened. I held my tongue, and I know that Melissa noticed me doing so.
“Whatever happens, my love,” I whispered, “I will keep you safe. We will be together for the rest of our lives even if we have to remain on this planet. Do you trust me?”
Melissa looked at me with those huge dark eyes of hers. “I do, Ark, I trust you with my life. And I won’t let anything happen to you either.”
I pulled her in close and whispered into her ear, “And that is how I know we are truly mates, Melissa Crane of Earth.”
I pulled back and kissed her, a
nd in that moment everything else disappeared and we were one, in peace and tranquility.
Unfortunately for the both of us, we had to come back to reality after only a short time. When I set Melissa down, I saw Makora and Sally watching us, holding hands. Sally had tears in her eyes that she was wiping away with her free hand, and even Makora smiled back at me. “Love,” Makora said as Sally sniffed, “wonderful to see two people meet each other.”
“Let us get on with the plan, Makora,” I grumbled, though not entirely unhappily.
“We are ready when you are.”
Melissa and I nodded to each other and to Makora and Sally, and gathered our supplies. Then we were off, to the right, hiding behind more rocks, moving slightly downward as we inched closer and closer to the center stage of the theater. As we hid behind each rock one of us would peek out over the top and make sure that none of the ghost wolves were tracking us, but they seemed far more interested in the energy chalice than anything going on around them.
The eerie chanting continued, and as we got closer and closer I could make out various patterns among the sounds, but still any meaning eluded both me and the universal translator I had implanted in my ear. It definitely sounded like they were communicating, though what they were saying I did not know.
There would be time to study that later, perhaps, if Melissa and I were to stay on this planet for some unknown reason, but for now, we had to try and escape with as much speed as possible.
I looked back at Makora and Sally, still behind the rock we started from. They were leaning out and watching our progress, and when I made eye contact with Makora, he gave a small wave to show he saw me.
I turned back to Melissa, touching her on the arm. “Are you ready? I will signal for the beacons to start.”
Melissa nodded, stone faced, but I could see her knuckles were white as she gripped the dark and jagged rock in front of us. The sun had begun to set and the wind was beginning to pick up.
The chanting of the ghost wolves grew louder and louder with each passing minute.
Now was the best time to strike. I looked back at Makora behind the rock and gave him the signal we had decided on. Makora nodded and disappeared back behind the rock. As we had decided, we leaned over our rock to watch the effect on the ghost wolves. Makora had said that they would begin dispersing almost immediately.
A minute passed. Nothing changed.
Another minute. Still no change.
Another minute. Still no-
A deafening roar echoed throughout the amphitheater and Melissa ducked behind our rock, clinging to me like she was afraid she would wash away. I held onto her and kept her steady as the roar continued, but I did not look down.
I needed to see what was going on.
As I watched it became clear. The sea of the dozens of ghost wolves parted, opening a path to the energy chalice, and along that path walked…the biggest ghost wolf of them all.
I had not seen more than a hundred of them since we had landed, but this one was clearly the leader, or just some sort of freak of ghost wolf nature. It towered above all the rest, not unlike how I towered above Melissa. It must have been at least triple my height, and as ferocious looking as ten of them put together. Considering the difficulty I had in taking down one of the normal ones, I did not relish the thought of getting into combat with their leader.
Perhaps if Makora and I worked together…no, the best plan was to avoid combat altogether. As Kreossian warriors neither of us were strangers to combat, but the empire did not expand to reach the far ends of the galaxy by engaging in foolhardy and pointless battles. It was far more important to choose the right circumstances than to jump straight in and fight.
Admiral Kaalax’ words about making sure I did not jump to judgement or action without taking full stock of the situation came rushing back to me all at once, and I remembered his lesson to me back in the gymnasium on the flagship only a few days earlier. It felt like that was so long ago, that I had become a completely different man since then.
As I pulled Melissa in close to me, I realized that I had become a completely different man in such a short time - I was now a man in full, made whole by having met Melissa and joining with her, becoming part of her as she became part of me.
Perhaps that was the lesson I had to learn, the lesson Admiral Kaalax had been trying to teach me from the start. I used to be headstrong and without reason, relying on my natural cunning and physical abilities to see me through whatever came my way.
Now, things were different - I had someone else to care about, someone else to protect. Melissa was strong in her own right, but she could not match up to me physically. That, however, was not the point. It was not about physical strength or comparing the two of us.
I was her protector and she was my soul.
It was as simple as that, and I would set the planet on fire and watch it burn if it meant she would be safe. I knew it to be true more than anything else I had ever known in my life.
And she made me think twice about things. She made me consider other angles, she made me look to other methods beyond jumping into combat with no regard for my life. That had gotten me this far, but it would get me no further.
The king ghost wolf continued his slow and confident march toward the energy chalice. I could hear the chanting quiet down from the ghost wolves in front of him, getting louder as he passed by. It was almost a regal procession.
I turned me head to look back at Makora, and he stared at me with a befuddled expression, shaking his head. It was as I suspected, his machines were not working. We would have to do without his beacons.
I grimly looked back as the king stopped in front of the energy chalice. The chanting died down almost to a whisper. The lower sound gave Melissa more courage, and I felt her let go of me and clamber up the side of the rock so she could watch what happened next.
The king reared back, letting out a bellow of such great volume that even I had to hold my hands over my ears. I had no idea why he was doing this, but it clearly had an effect on the other ghost wolves - they scattered, getting into a frenzy and running all around the lower levels of the amphitheater, a few of them getting close to the rock that we hid behind, but none getting close enough to detect us.
I gripped the rock tighter as I watched for their next move. The king, apparently satisfied that he had the others’ attention, began to walk around the energy chalice, which began glowing with even more intensity, throwing off rays of light, as he increased speed, around and around.
Something was happening. Something big.
And then, the king reared up on his hind legs and…
He began to dance around the energy chalice. The other ghost wolves went mad. They arranged themselves in circles, concentrically around the rings of rocks, and they all got on their hind legs and began to dance. The chanting picked up again, only now it came with a beat.
It was thrilling to watch these ethereal creatures, pitch black, giving off these laces of white almost liquid that whipped and flew around them like a ghostly energy field, as they held an impromptu but highly regimented dance around this giant crackling energy generator in the middle of nowhere on a jungle planet.
Thrilling, yes, but we could not afford to keep watching. Night was falling, and that would embolden them even further, and if more arrived, we were sunk.